Estimating the Economic Boost of Marriage for Same-Sex Couples in Oklahoma

By Justin M. O’Neill, Christy Mallory, M.V. Lee BadgettAugust 2014

Extending marriage to same-sex couples in Oklahoma would generate an estimated $20.5 million in spending to the state economy. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the most recent data available, 6,134 same-sex couples live in Oklahoma. Of those couples, the Institute estimates that fifty percent (3,067 couples) would choose to marry in the first three years, a pattern that has been observed in Massachusetts and elsewhere. The marriages that would occur in the first year alone would bring over $13.1 million in revenue to the state of Oklahoma that year.